


a candy cane trail

by longlivejohnlock (Sherlockxxxx)



Series: 12 Days of Fic-mas 2016 [2]
Category: Sherlock (TV), Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms
Genre: 12 Days of Christmas, Candy Canes, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-16
Updated: 2016-12-16
Packaged: 2018-09-08 22:04:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 834
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8865043
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sherlockxxxx/pseuds/longlivejohnlock
Summary: John Watson is having an ordinary day. Ordinary except for the candy canes that seemed to be all around him.





	

**Author's Note:**

> [12 days of fic-mas 2016](http://hudders-and-hiddles.tumblr.com/post/154205774739/its-that-time-of-year-again-starting-december)
> 
> Day 2: Candy Canes

Out of the corner of his eye, John spotted a candy cane.  
  
It was Wednesday morning and he had just walked into the clinic. He was opening the offices today and waiting for him on the handle of the door was a single candy cane, a delicate green bow tied around it.  
  
John looked around, his brow furrowed.  
  
He tucked his to-go cup of coffee in the crook of his elbow and untied the candy cane from the handle and slipped it into the pocket of his button-down shirt.  
  
As he went about his morning routine around the office, he thought about his tube ride. He vaguely remembered seeing a few candy canes scattered throughout the station, but he thought nothing of it at the time.  
  
It was pretty common for things like this to happen around the holidays.  
  
Shrugging, John kept the candy cane in his pocket and saw his first patient, throwing himself into his work and forgetting all about the candy.  
  
John liked to try and to pick up a few more hours during the holiday season – or as doctors liked to call it: flu season. After treating six kids and four adults with the flu, and one teenager with mono, he yawned and tidied up his office. He opened the door before hand sanitizing – there was no way he was going to catch the flu.  
  
The waiting room had cleared out for the most part.  
  
And then John saw it.  
  
Another candy cane had been tied to the door of the clinic.  
  
He glanced briefly at the receptionist.  
  
“Did you see who did that?” John nodded to the door.  
  
The receptionist shrugged and went back to their work.  
  
“Right. See you tomorrow.”  
  
John noticed a note tied to the ribbon. He quickly untied the candy cane and pulled the note off of the ribbon. The writing was unfamiliar to him.  
  
The note simply said _follow me._  
  
Suspicious, John looked around for someone fleeing the scene.  
  
But there was no one.  
  
John held on to the candy cane instead of tucking it away and left the clinic, his eyes searching for a trail of red and white stripes.  
  
Though he was slightly expecting it, he found himself surprised to see candy canes lining the street. John pulled his jacket closed and started untying every single candy cane as he passed them. At the very least, he’d be able to hand them out at the clinic.  
  
The candy canes were everywhere – on street signs, bus stops, and shop windows.  
  
Every so often, there’d be another note encouraging him to keep following, and so he did. He had been following a streak of candy canes for nearly twenty minutes, not paying attention to his surroundings as the sun set on a moderately frigid day.  
  
He finally got to a door and the trail stopped. John surveyed the area he had been in and it looked like he was somewhere near St. Bart’s. In fact, once he opened the door, he knew that’s exactly where he was. The trial began again and he followed it to one of the labs and a smile slowly crept up on his face.  
  
He opened the door to the lab and it was romantically lit, candles in every corner of the room and colourful Christmas lines adorned the worktables and countertops.  
  
Standing in the middle of the room was Sherlock, his back towards John, muttering to himself about how he had made some kind of mistake.  
  
“Wow,” John whispered.  
  
Sherlock whipped around, blush settling on his cheekbones.  
  
“W-what is this, Sherlock?”  
  
Sherlock cleared his throat and attempted to smile.  
  
“This is where we met.”  
  
“I remember.”  
  
John’s heart thudded violently in his chest. This could be the night he was hoping for. The night he dreamt about every time he closed his eyes. It felt like his stomach was in his throat and his lungs felt empty.  
  
“John, I—well, there’s something I need to say,” Sherlock began. “It’s just t—what I mean to say is, uhm…”  
  
Grinning, John took a few steps forward to meet Sherlock in the middle of the room. It felt like he hadn’t breathed in years and his chest felt like it was going to explode.  
  
“I love you,” John said, his eyes sparkling.  
  
“No! That’s n—how did you know that’s what I was going to say?”  
  
John chuckled and shook his head.  
  
“That wasn’t me finishing your sentence, you git.”  
  
“It…wasn’t?”  
  
“No. It wasn’t,” John smiled.  
  
John stepped one step closer to Sherlock and Sherlock fell into John’s arms.  
  
It felt like he could breathe again.  
  
John wrapped his arms tightly around Sherlock, who had nuzzled against John’s neck. He could smell Sherlock’s hair as he breathed in and relief washed over him. This had been everything he had wanted since the day they met.  
  
“I love you,” Sherlock whispered against John’s skin.  
  
All the candy canes in the world would not taste as sweet as those words sounded.


End file.
